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What does scale mean?

Scale is a representation in figures of how small a model is in relation to its full-sized prototype.
There are over a dozen different scales in the world of model railways, the most popular being 1:76 scale in the UK and 1:87 scale in continental Europe and the US.
But what do these numbers mean? 
The first number (which is always 1) represents the models' length in any given measurement, the last three digits represent how many times bigger the real-life object is than the model.
A 1-meter long model railway engine with a scale of 1:100, would be a scale model of a real engine measuring 100 meters. A 1inch long model with a scale of 1:12 would represent a foot long item in real life.
The interesting observation is: when the scale is represented in this way you might notice that the higher the number, the smaller the model, just to confuse us all!
Of course, when we pop into our local model shop, we are much more accustomed to seeing our favourite locomotives referred to as, N Gauge or 00 Gauge etc. This certainly simplifies things for us, and for most, is all the information that we need, but there is more to it.
Scale refers to our locomotives, rolling stock and scenery, whereas gauge (as in 00 gauge) relates only to the track.
This is important to know for advanced modellers as they will want to be as accurate as possible when creating their layouts, and in some gauges, the scale of the rolling stock will be different to that of the track.
For example, H0 gauge track has 16.5mm between the parallel rails, H0 scale engines have a scale of 1:87. This works, everything is shrunk down from real life in proportion. However, 00 gauge track still has 16.5mm between the parallel rails, but this time the engines are presented in a scale of 1:76, so for advanced modellers, the track of 00 gauge would not be accurate and appear too narrow.
Here is a list of the more popular gauges and their scales:
00 Gauge = 1:76 Scale
H0 Gauge = 1:87 Scale
N Gauge = 1:160 Scale (1:148 in the UK)
TT Gauge = 1:120 Scale 
0 Gauge = 1:43
G Gauge = Anywhere between 1:20 and 1:32 Scale
We have ended up with so many different scales to accommodate the different requirements we have as modellers, when early train-sets were first manufactured they were little more than toys and although they kept us entertained for many years, eventually we wanted to expand and model our railways in a way we wanted to. For some that meant a smaller gauge to fit more railway into a given space, for others that meant a model so big, you could ride on it around the garden. Most of us however, fit in somewhere between the two.
Posted in: Kit building, Model Railway

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